When Darkness Falls
by platarozaluna
Summary: What starts out as an open-and-shut-case turns into a dangerous hostage situation with a formidable Colombian drug ring. How far will Olivia go to save Jose Montoya and how far will Elliot go to get Olivia back? Elliot&Kathy still together,Eventual E/O
1. Chapter 1: Curse Those Miranda Rights

**A/N: No, I don't own them. If I did, Elliot and Olivia would have gotten together a looonnng time ago. Yeah…I know it's kind of a slow beginning, but I hope it'll be worth it when the plot starts to get more exciting. It's weird because the idea for this entire case came from a weird dream I had after watching an SVU marathon. I was Liv, my best guy friend was El, our mutual friend was ADA Novak, and my deceased grandfather was Cragen. It's sort of based on 911 Call and Ghost I think, anyway enjoy =) review please, it's my first fanfic **

Olivia Benson awoke to the sound of her alarm going off at 6 am on Tuesday morning. She was tired and had no desire to walk into the bullpen that morning. A text message 30 minutes later roused her from her sleep once more. It was from her partner, Elliot Stabler. "I'll be there in 10 minutes to pick you up =)", it read. Damn. Olivia bolted out of bed, took a speed shower, and changed into an aqua blouse and black dress pants. She heard a knocking at her apartment door as she fixed her makeup. " I'm coming, El," she called out.

"You two have caught a case," said Cragen, as the two walked into the bullpen and made a beeline for the coffee machine. Olivia was about to ask Cragen for the details, when the precinct phone rang. Cragen answered, spoke for a few minutes, and said "A 911 call has been transferred to our unit. Benson, you're always good with the younger victims, why don't you pick it up? I'll give your case to Munch and Fin." Olivia grabbed the phone. "Hello? Is this the police? Es la policia?" asked a frightened-sounding little boy with a Spanish accent. "Hi, yes, this is the police. My name is Olivia. Do you need help?" she asked. "Daddy…he hurt mommy." The little boy said, and Olivia put him on speaker phone. "Where are you, what is your name?" Olivia asked as Elliot set to work tracing the call. "Jose Montoya. I'm in my room. I have to be quiet or he will hear me!" Jose exclaimed. "I've got it, Liv, he's calling from an apartment in Queens, let's go!" Elliot shouted suddenly. "We know where you are. We're on our way, but Jose sweetie I need you to stay on the phone." She said, and then called to her coworkers, "I'm switching to the portable!"

When they arrived at the crime scene, there were already cops swarming the place. They flashed their badges. "Detectives Stabler and Benson, SVU. What's going on here?" Elliot asked, scanning the crowd for a familiar face. "Suspect is Ricardo Montoya, arrested on suspicion of killing his wife, Evita Montoya. Police received two phone calls, one by a neighbor, Elena Hernandoza, and the other by the couple's eight-year-old son, Jose," rattled off the medical examiner, Melinda Warner, coming up behind the two detectives. "Where's the little boy? Olivia needs to get a statement," "Sorry, Stabler, the little boy had some severe bruising suggestive of repeated abuse. He's at Mercy," Melinda said, pulling out a pad of paper. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a dead body to examine." Elliot smiled slightly. "Same old cheerful Melinda." "Come on, El, we need to get a statement from Jose and then a confession from the prick down at the precinct," Olivia said, getting back in the SUV and slamming the door.

Once at Mercy Hospital, Olivia asked to see Jose Montoya. "I'm Detective Benson, but you can call me Olivia," she said softly to the little boy playing with trucks in the children's playroom. "'Livia?" he asked. "Yes?" "What happened to mommy?" Olivia didn't know how to answer. Fortunately, she didn't have to, for Elliot walked into the room, his cellphone at his ear. "Liv, Montoya's getting a lawyer."


	2. Chapter 2: Jose's Story

**A/N: Still don't own them. Here's the second chapter, sorry it's short, but I'm studying for midterms and I need to get off the computer. Please review and give me words of constructive criticism and confidence =) Oh, and Deb? If you really hate my story that much, you don't have to read it. No one is making you . I don't plan to stop writing anytime soon, it's too much fun=P**

"Damn." It was always harder when cases went to trial. She sighed. "I'm going to get a statement, but he's probably going to need to testify. Call Novak." Elliot left the room. "Umm..'Livia, who was that?" Jose asked. "That was my friend, Elliot. We want to help you, but you need to tell me what happened. Why did you call the police? How did Daddy hurt Mommy?" Jose's facial expression changed instantly and his eyes grew wide with fear. "There was…a really loud noise. I got worried so I called you guys." "But couldn't something else have caused the noise? I think that you had more of a reason for calling." "Well…she screamed and said 'por favor! No!'" "I think you saw something, Jose." "No! I didn't! I…no!" he stammered. "Okay. Do you want to talk about something else? " he nodded. "That's a pretty cool shirt you have there," she said, referring to his power rangers dino thunder t-shirt. "yeah…my mommy bought it for me 'cause I got straight 3's in first grade." He began to cry and Olivia instantly leaned over to comfort him. "I tried so hard to save her, 'Livia. She and daddy were yelling so I went into my room. I hate it when they yell. They said really mean things to each other and then I heard mommy scream like she was scared. I hid under my bed 'cause I thought a bad guy came to our house. But then, I thought I should save her so I took my T-ball bat and went to the kitchen. Daddy was….and mommy…and blood….and" Jose cut off and then began to sob uncontrollably into Olivia's shoulder. She pat his back, careful of the bruises all over his small fragile body. "You're doing so well, Jose. Mommy would be so proud of you." As his crying let up, he courageously went on with the story. "Daddy…hit her. I told him that hands aren't for hitting and he said some mean things to me en Espanol. I don't know why..I hit him with my T-ball bat and he took it and…" Jose gestured to his bruises and became upset again and Olivia couldn't blame him. The little eight-year-old had been through hell and was being forced to relive it all over again to a police officer that he didn't know. "It's okay, Jose. You're almost done." She beamed at him and he returned a weak smile.


	3. Chapter 3: Olivia's Second Chance

"Do you want to stop now?" Olivia asked, figuring he'd been through enough already, but to her surprise, he smiled up at her.

"No Miss 'Livia, I have to keep talking. Mommy told me never to be afraid of monsters 'cause they can only hurt me if I'm afraid. Even if the monster is my daddy, I can't be afraid of him or he will just hurt me again 'cause I'm scared." It tugged at Olivia's heartstrings that this innocent little boy's only solace was to be wise beyond his years.

"Your mommy is right, you don't have to be afraid, I won't ever let your daddy hurt you again." Olivia was starting to cry now. All she'd ever wanted was a child to love, protect, and cherish. Ricardo Montoya had what she always wanted, and threw it all away by beating the little angel.

"Don't cry, 'Livia—I'll make sure that my daddy doesn't hurt you like he did to mommy. You're so nice, I'll save you," he said, causing Olivia to cry even harder. She pulled him into a tight hug, momentarily forgetting that he wasn't her son until she remembered why she was there.

"Jose, what happened after you tried to save your mom?" she asked. He was silent for a minute before he looked up at Olivia with wide fearful eyes.

"If I tell you…will you hit me?" he asked. Olivia gasped in shock and immediately hugged him again.

"Oh sweetie! I would never ever hurt you. You have to know that you can trust me and if you don't want to talk to me, I'll go get someone else," she said, figuring Huang could give it a shot.

"No Miss 'Livia! Please don't leave! I'll tell you, I promise, just don't leave!" Jose pleaded, grabbing on to her shoulders.

"It's okay, Jose, I'm not going anywhere, now how about you finish telling me so that we don't have to talk about this anymore."

"Well….I…I ran away. I got too scared, so I ran back into my room and locked the door 'cause mommy told me that's what I should do if a bad guy ever came, I just didn't think she meant….." he trailed off. Olivia was disgusted, he didn't think his mother meant that his dad could be the bad guy, and why should he have? She was starting to get the feeling that this burst of extreme anger may not have just been a one time occurrence for Ricardo Montoya, especially because some of Jose's bruises looked to be at least a week old.

"It's okay Jose, you did the right thing, you listened to your mommy ad you got out of a very dangerous situation," she soothed as she rubbed his small back.

"I heard a loud sound, like when my birthday balloon popped and mommy screamed. That's when I remembered what it sounded like," he said.

"What did it sound like, Jose?" Olivia asked, knowing the answer, but fearing his response all the same.

"Well this one time, I went to see a cowboy movie with mommy, that sound happened and the guy that screamed got really hurt, I didn't want mommy to be hurt like the guy in the movie so I called 911 like they told us to in school if we had a big emergency," Jose was crying again and Olivia saw no more reason to push him today. She clicked off the tape recorder she always carried when she got witness statements and figured that would be enough for Casey to go on at least for now. "umm…Miss 'Livia?" Jose asked suddenly.

"What is it, sweetie?"

"Since I was a good boy and told you about the scary thing, can I see my mommy now?" Oh my god…..thought Olivia, he doesn't know she's dead. "She's in this hospital, right?"he pushed, giving Olivia no other choice than to gently break the news to him.

"Jose sweetie….have you ever had a pet?"

"umm…si…I had a dog, but he got sick and mommy told me that he had to go be with God in heaven so he wouldn't be hurt anymore," Jose replied.

"Jose….your mommy was hurt very badly, like the cowboy in the movie. She was so brave when she stood up to your daddy that God let her come to heaven with him so that she wouldn't be hurt anymore. She's up there with your dog now, probably smiling down at you and thinking about how brave you are," Olivia tried her best to explain the concept of death to Jose without sounding too cold and blunt. She needed him to think that his mother was better off, at least until he was old enough to understand what happened.

"So…..she's gone? Miss 'Livia, why did God take my mommy away from me, was I a bad boy?" he asked.

"No, Jose, you were a very good boy. Your mommy might not be here, but she can see you and she's proud of you. I know she is." Olivia rumpled his hair, and just then, was startled by a knock on the door. She turned around and Elliot barged in.

"Damnit El, what is it?" she snapped, knowing that sometimes young children who were hurt by men often would become very withdrawn if confronted by one. She turned back to Jose. "Jose, this is my friend Elliot, do you remember?" When he nodded, she continued. " I have to go out in the hallway to talk to him, but I'll be right back, ok?"

"Do you promise you'll come back, Miss'Livia? My mommy is gone and I don't want to go back to my daddy, so you have to take care of me 'cause you promised you'd keep me safe. You can't leave me…" Jose's words warmed Olivia's heart and she hugged him, softly saying that she wouldn't leave him, and yes, she would keep him safe. Once out in the hallway, Olivia rounded on Elliot.

"Liv, Cragen wants us back at the precinct now, do you have the statement?" he asked,

"Yes, but, Elliot, what's going to happen to Jose?"

"I don't know, the trial's in three days, they'll probably put him in a foster home or something."

"NO! That would crush him! He can stay with me"

"Liv," Elliot warned, probably thinking this was going to be Calvin all over again.

"Don't you 'Liv' me, Elliot Stabler! I'm going to save this little boy and after his father is found guilty, which if the American justice system has any merit he will be, I plan to adopt him."


	4. Chapter 4: Hero

**A/N: Still don't own them, enjoy the update, I get to go enjoy the pleasure that is studying for AP Biology. The depressing Jose stuff is almost over and the E/O is coming =)**

Jose was cleared to stay in Olivia's guest room until his trial. The first day, they went shopping to buy him a few toys to play with while at Olivia's. Elliot came by with a bag of Jose's clothes and things from the apartment, which was still an off limits crime scene. The second day was when it all seemed to hit home for Jose. He awoke in the middle of the night crying about a nightmare and when Olivia tried to comfort him, he asked for his mom. They spent that day watching movies and eating ice cream. Thursday night came to quickly for both Olivia and Jose's liking. As they sat at the table in Olivia's apartment waiting for their takeout to arrive, Jose posed the question that had been weighing on Olivia's mind for the past three days. "Aunt 'Livia?" he asked, for he had, much to Olivia's happiness, taken to calling her 'Aunt' rather than 'Miss'.

"What is it, baby?" she replied sensing the serious note his tone had taken.

"I have to back to my daddy tomorrow, don't I?" Olivia leaned over and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"My friend Casey is going to make sure you don't have to go back to your daddy again, ok?"

"Who's Casey?" Olivia was in the process of explaining the job of a prosecutor to Jose, when the doorbell rang. She tipped the delivery boy and carried the bags of Chinese food back into the kitchen. Jose was looking at the refrigerator.

"Aunt Liv, what's that?" he asked, pointing to a little child-drawn picture on the fridge of a little boy and a woman. 'I love you', it said. It was signed, 'Calvin Benson'. Olivia sighed.

"That's a picture that was given to me by a little boy who was once mine," she said softly.

"You had a boy Aunt Liv? What happened to him?"

"He wasn't mine. His mommy was mean to him like your daddy was mean to you, so I let him stay at my house like I let you stay here. I was going to be his new mommy, but his old mommy wanted him back," she explained, trying to make the situation understandable to Jose. She tried to suppress her sob, but the eight-year-old heard it. He got out of his chair and gave her a hug.

"It's okay Aunt Liv, I'll be your boy. I'll draw you a picture and you can be my new mommy since I don't have one anymore. My old mommy would have thought you were nice," Jose's words made Olivia's heart melt-but that was nothing compared to what was to come later. After his bath, Jose crawled into the bed in Olivia's guestroom and waited for her to tuck him in. She sat down on the edge of the bed. "Aunt Liv? When this is my room can I make it power rangers?" he asked, causing her to laugh.

"Of course, sweetie, you can make it whatever you want," she replied. They were silent for a few minutes. Thinking he'd fallen asleep, Olivia leaned over to kiss his forehead.

"Goodnight, my sweet little boy," she said.

"I love you, Mom" he murmured softly, and this eyes gently closed.

"I love you, too, Jose" she said.  
That night, Olivia Benson cried more than she had in years. She cried for Jose, for Evita Montoya, for Calvin, for her own mother Serena, and for herself. She cried because there was so much pain in the world.

The next morning, Olivia's alarm went off, reminding her that it was trial day. After showering and getting ready, she went to get Jose, figuring he could be getting ready while she started breakfast. She was determined to make it a good breakfast, since it could be the last time she ate with Jose. Don't think like that, Benson, she told herself. "Jose, baby, it's time to wake up," she whispered softly.

"No...,"he murmured. "I don't want to leave, I don't want to go back to my daddy like Calvin had to go back to his mommy!"

"you're going to be okay, sweetie, I promise. Now, you get ready, I'm going to go make breakfast," Olivia said, figuring she needed to get out of there. She didn't want Jose to see her break down.  
Once Olivia got into the other room, she collapsed against the counter, her head in her hands as her body shook with silent sobs. A knock sounded at the door. She ignored it. The knocking persisted and Jose called out,

"Mommy 'Livia, someones at the door!" Mommy 'Livia...those little words gave her the strength to say shakily back

"I know baby, I'm going to go and get it," She pulled open the door to reveal her partner standing there with a large McDonald's bag in his hand. "Oh, um, hey El, come on in," she said awkwardly, holding the door open and gesturing into her apartment. He smiled at her and held out the bag.

"I figured you wouldn't want to cook this morning, there's a pancake happy meal for Jose in there, and I got you a happy meal, too. I figured you could use more happy things in your life," he said. Surprisingly, anti-affection Olivia Benson pulled her partner into a hug.

"Thanks, El. This means a lot, thank you for supporting me,"

"Olivia, I lo-" Olivia didn't get to find out what Elliot was about to say, because Jose walked into the room at that minute and shouted,

"Mr. Elliot is here! Mommy Livia, is here!" Amused at how fond he was of her partner, Olivia chuckled.

"yes, is here and he brought us breakfast, so what do you say?"

"Gracias, Mr. Elliot," he was grinning as he pulled his Incredible Hulk toy out of his happy meal box. "Awesome!" he exclaimed. "Mommy Livia, what toy did you get?" he asked. Laughing now, Olivia opened her box and pulled out a little superman.

"Don't I wish I had superman right now," she murmured, too quietly for anyone to hear, but Elliot caught it.

"Mommy! You got superman! He's like ," said Jose simply.

"What, sweetie?"

" can be our superman, right Mommy Livia? I heard you when you were sleeping. You sounded scared and I thought my daddy came and tried to hurt my new mommy like he did my old one so I went to check on you and you were sleeping and saying "Help me Elliot! El please! Make it stop!" Hey, I have an idea! You can be my new mommy and Mr. Elliot can be my new daddy!" Olivia blushed redder than a tomato, but Elliot merely smiled.

"Olivia, I will be your hero, if you let me. I'll never let anything happen to you or Jose, I promise,"


	5. Chapter 5: Trial

E/O Chapter 5: Trial

Elliot could tell that Olivia was on the verge of tears so he whispered calmly to Jose, "Why don't you go in the kitchen and eat,I'm going to talk to Olivia for a minute,"

"! You aren't going to hurt mommy Livia, right?" he asked anxiously.

"No, Jose, I would never ever hurt Olivia or let her be hurt, I promise you that."

"It's okay, Jose, sweetie, I trust with my life," said Olivia, smiling weakly up at him. Jose nodded and retreated into the kitchen with his McDonald's bag. At this point Olivia began to sob uncontrollably into Elliot's shoulder. He had never seen her break down like this and he just held her while she cried and whispered small words of consolation in her ear.

"Sshhh it's okay, Olivia, everything is going to be alright, you'll see. We know Montoya's guilty, he can't get out of this,"

"I can't lose him, El, he's all I have," she choked into him.

"You have me, Liv, we're best friends and always will be,"

"Elliot," she murmured and after that, was silent save for the occasional hiccup. Elliot continued to hold her and rub her back. Jose walked back into the room holding Olivia's breakfast on a plate.

"Here Mommy Livia, I drew a smiley face on it with whipped cream!" and indeed, the pancake now bore a giant whipped cream smile and two chocolate chip eyes. Olivia began to laugh through her tears, causing Elliot and Jose to laugh with her.

"Liv why don't you eat and get straightened up, I'll take Jose down to the courthouse, Casey wants to talk to him before the trial. You can just meet us there," suggested Elliot as Olivia wriggled out of his lap. "Oh El, what would I do without you?" she said throwing her arms around him in a quick hug.

"You'd still be a strong, beautiful, independent woman,"

"The prosecution will call its first witness, Trauma Nurse Virginia Hope of Mercy Hospital to the stand. Miss Hope is here to testify as to the state of the victim and her son upon their arrival at the hospital," said Prosecutor Novak once the trial had finally begun. The nurse's testimony was fairly straightforward. She basically said that Evita Montoya was dead and Jose was severely traumatized both emotionally and physically. Next, the medical examiner, Melinda Warner, testified about the state of the body. Evita Montoya's estimated time of death was approximately 7:15 am Tuesday morning from a gunshot wound in the center of her chest. She died upon impact. She also had a number of bruises all over her body made by a man's heavy hand suggestive of repeated domestic abuse. Upon checkup of Jose, Melinda had confirmed that the bruises were made by the same adult male.

"Now that the basic facts of this cruel case have been laid bare, the prosecution calls Homicide Detective Dick Gumshoe to the stand. Gumshoe was the first detective on the scene and is going to describe the state of the apartment post-incident," said Novak as a detective wearing a long, shabby green overcoat took the stand and was sworn in.

"Police received a phone call at about 7:20 am on Tuesday morning from a little boy who seemed frantic. We began to trace the call while we transferred him to the Special Victims Unit, since they are usually the ones who deal with crimes involving children. Once we had an address, we went immediately to the apartment. We immediately apprehended the victim's husband Ricardo Montoya, who, other than their young son Jose, was the only person who could have pulled the trigger. Jose was found with fresh bruises all over his body and was taken in a bus to Mercy Hospital for examination. Evita Montoya was laying on the ground in the couple's kitchen, also covered in both fresh and old bruises. Blood was pouring from a gunshot wound on her chest. The gun and confirmed murder weapon was laying beside her, free of prints. However, the defendant was wearing motorcycle riding gloves. Several stools and chairs in the kitchen were tipped or broken, showing that a struggle probably occurred. Both the defendant and the victim tested clean for alcohol and recent drug use, however, the defendant has used cocaine in the last month." Gumshoe testified. After cross-examination (though, there wasn't much to cross-examine, Gumshoe's testimony was, unusually for him, pretty flawless) Casey Novak pulled out Olivia's recorder from her evidence bag.

"SVU Detective Olivia Benson acquired a witness statement from Jose Montoya at Mercy Hospital that I will now play for the court," she said.

"_There was…a really loud noise. I got worried so I called you guys."_

"_But couldn't something else have caused the noise? I think that you had more of a reason for calling." _

"_Well…she screamed and said 'por favor! No!'"_

"_I think you saw something, Jose." _

"_No! I didn't! I…no!" _

"_Okay. Do you want to talk about something else? " _

"_That's a pretty cool shirt you have there," _

"_yeah…my mommy bought it for me 'cause I got straight 3's in first grade." _

"_I tried so hard to save her, 'Livia. She and daddy were yelling so I went into my room. I hate it when they yell. They said really mean things to each other and then I heard mommy scream like she was scared. I hid under my bed 'cause I thought a bad guy came to our house. But then, I thought I should save her so I took my T-ball bat and went to the kitchen. Daddy was….and mommy…and blood….and" _

"_You're doing so well, Jose. Mommy would be so proud of you." _

"_Daddy…hit her. I told him that hands aren't for hitting and he said some mean things to me en Espanol. I don't know why..I hit him with my T-ball bat and he took it and…" _

"_It's okay, Jose. You're almost done." "Do you want to stop now?" _

"_No Miss 'Livia, I have to keep talking. Mommy told me never to be afraid of monsters 'cause they can only hurt me if I'm afraid. Even if the monster is my daddy, I can't be afraid of him or he will just hurt me again 'cause I'm scared." _

"_Your mommy is right, you don't have to be afraid, I won't ever let your daddy hurt you again." _

"_Don't cry, 'Livia—I'll make sure that my daddy doesn't hurt you like he did to mommy. You're so nice, I'll save you," _

"_Jose, what happened after you tried to save your mom?" _

"_If I tell you…will you hit me?"_

"_Oh sweetie! I would never ever hurt you. You have to know that you can trust me and if you don't want to talk to me, I'll go get someone else," _

"_No Miss 'Livia! Please don't leave! I'll tell you, I promise, just don't leave!" _

"_It's okay, Jose, I'm not going anywhere, now how about you finish telling me so that we don't have to talk about this anymore." _

"_Well….I…I ran away. I got too scared, so I ran back into my room and locked the door 'cause mommy told me that's what I should do if a bad guy ever came, I just didn't think she meant….." _

"_It's okay Jose, you did the right thing, you listened to your mommy ad you got out of a very dangerous situation," _

"_I heard a loud sound, like when my birthday balloon popped and mommy screamed. That's when I remembered what it sounded like," _

"_What did it sound like, Jose?" _

"_Well this one time, I went to see a cowboy movie with mommy, that sound happened and the guy that screamed got really hurt, I didn't want mommy to be hurt like the guy in the movie so I called 911 like they told us to in school if we had a big emergency,"_

Casey clicked the recorder off and Olivia noticed that much of the courtroom(even Judge Liz) had slightly damp eyes. At that time, the defense attorney, a stone-faced, bitter woman named Calisto Yew, called her witness, the defendant Ricardo Montoya, to the stand.

"I can't pretend to know how our kid got the bruises and shit, but I will tell you, my wife can have a heavy hand—"

"Objection!" interrupted Casey. "The bruises were ruled to have been made by a man's hand, the same hand that bruised Mrs. Montoya herself!"

"Objection! This is not the cross-examination, Miss Novak, you will refrain from badgering my witness!" hissed Yew.

"Anyway, as I was saying before the prosecution interrupted me, when Jose heard screams…well, what can I say, my girl likes it rough." Olivia wanted to punch that sadistic little smile off of the bastard's face. "That…vile…."she whispered under her breath. Elliot lay a hand on her knee to calm her.

"It's okay, Olivia. He's going to be convicted and rot in prison, the evidence is overwhelming,"

"Objection!"cried Casey. "On your kitchen floor?"

"You are not to judge, isn't that right, Miss Prosecutor Novak?" smirked Montoya in response.

"The question is, could what young Jose Montoya has heard been not abuse, but rough sexual intercourse? Who really left the bruises on that boy's body? He never really admitted someone's name in the recording. I think the only real answer is that he be called in as a witness. Where is Jose, anyway, Novak?" asked Calisto Yew. _You aren't cross examining my baby, you bitch_, thought Olivia.

"He's in the children's room," Casey replied.

"The defense would like to call Jose Montoya to the stand," announced Yew.

Olivia's heart went out to Jose, who was standing nervously up at the stand after being sworn in to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. His eyes met his father's and he looked like he was going to pass out. "Jose, I didn't hit you, we both know that. Now, you're going to tell the court who it really was, me entiende, chico?" Ricardo Montoya growled. Jose was silent and his eyes met Olivia's briefly. She smiled up at him, encouragingly.

"It was….Aunt 'Livia,"


	6. Chapter 6: Gains and Losses

Chapter 6: Gains and Losses

**A/N: Thanks so much for the nice reviews! They've given me the confidence to keep uploading! =)**

Instant uproar broke out in the court. Olivia couldn't refrain herself from getting upset, so she simply walked out of the courtroom before she broke down. Elliot watched her leave. He wanted to go after her, hold her and tell her that everything was going to be fine because there was no way she could have abused Jose, and the jury knew that. However, he stayed in the courtroom figuring Olivia would want to hear later how things had panned out. "OBJECTION! It would have been impossible for Detective Benson to have abused Jose Montoya. She did not initially speak to him until he was at the hospital after the incident. At that time, the bruises were already on his body and he had already been examined by ME Warner and Nurse Hope. The injuries were sustained that morning, before the call, at which point Detective Benson was at the precinct and answered the call. Furthermore, it was proven that a heavy man's hand had beaten him, and Olivia does not have a heavy man's hand!" explained Casey quickly and hurriedly, trying to get the suspicion thrown off of Olivia as soon as possible.

"The defense, now document this historical moment, agrees with the prosecution on this matter. There was absolutely no way that the detective could have bruised Jose Montoya," said Calisto Yew, almost regretfully.

"Yeah, his bitch mother hit him while wearing gloves!" shouted Ricardo Montoya over the din.

"Is there any member of the jury who is not convinced that Miss Benson played no part in this?" asked the judge and not a single juror raised a hand. "Good. Glad that's cleared up, now, I'm going to turn the trial back over to Miss Novak and Miss Yew," said the judge.

"Thank you, your honor. Now I do not think the defense will have any objection to young Jose speaking with our psychiatrist, George Huang, briefly. We need to get an accurate testimony out of him and we won't be able to until we can get him over the trauma of this tragic event at least temporarily," Casey suggested and Yew did not object. The judge slammed her gavel on the podium.

"The court will now take an hour long recess during which time Jose will be spoken to and evaluated by Dr. Huang. Everyone go get a hot lunch and meet back here in an hour," she announced. Elliot immediately went out into the hallway to look for Olivia, when he didn't see her; he figured she might have walked out of the courthouse for some air. He found her outside sitting on the steps, her head in her hands. He laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Olivia? Everything's alright. They've proven that there was absolutely no way that you could have done it," He then explained everything that had happened in court since she left.

"My poor baby, he must be so scared," she murmured. Elliot wrapped his partner in a hug.

"Come on, Liv, there's a Starbucks across the street, let's go get you some hot tea or something before we have to go back in," Elliot suggested, and Olivia complied, allowing him to lead her across the street and into a small booth at the Starbucks. Elliot ordered a coffee, but Olivia insisted that she didn't want anything, and, indeed, she did look like she was in serious danger of getting sick all over the table, so he didn't push her.

"You can have some of mine if you want, okay Liv?"

"Ummm…..yeah, sure, thanks El," she murmured, staring distractedly out the window.

"Olivia, come over here," Elliot gestured to the seat next to him on his side of the booth. Normally, Olivia would have objected. She would love nothing more than to cuddle up next to her partner, she'd been in love with him for the past 12 years, but he was married to Kathy and that was something she needed to accept. As such, she tried to limit any and all physical contact with him; for, she really didn't trust herself not to forget he was married. However, in this particular circumstance, Olivia's mind was on the little eight year old boy who had called her "mommy" only to accuse her of beating him. Before she knew it, her face was buried in her partner's chest. He put his arm around her and held her to him, and she could feel his heartbeat. Often when he was with Olivia, Elliot would forget that he had been married to his 'one true love' for over twenty years. The truth was, things had been on the rocks with Kathy for ages. He'd even divorced her for a time, only to find out she was pregnant with his son, Eli. They'd tried to make things work for the sake of the kids, but their hearts just weren't in it anymore. Elliot breathed in the scent of Olivia's shampoo. Aussie Volume, he knew because he'd had to pick it up at the grocery store for her one day when she wasn't feeling well. Listening to her light, peaceful breathing, Elliot realized that Olivia had fallen asleep. He smiled and adjusted his arm behind her so that she would be more comfortable. He'd have to wake her up soon, but that could wait. For now, she needed sleep, for she probably hadn't gotten much over the past few days. The door to the Starbucks opened and a blonde woman came in chattering animatedly with her short brunette friend. The scene before her was the last thing she'd expected to see, but, then again, she was the last person he'd expected to see here.

"Elliot!" she hissed in a voice of malice. He put down the coffee cup and adjusted his sleeping partner. "Kathy? _Kathy_….." he growled, finally grasping the situation. He was here supposedly "at work" while in reality, his partner was asleep in his lap and he was stroking her hair. _Damnit. _

"What the hell, Elliot? Is this what you do when you say you have a busy day at work?"

"I'm at lunch, Kathy,"

"You don't seem to understand me. You don't think it's wrong that you evidently spend your lunch breaks with that little home wrecker! I've been saying it for years and you've always denied it. I was finally starting to believe that maybe I was overreacting. That maybe you were just friends, but, _REALLY, ELLIOT!"_ Kathy spat, completely oblivious to the fact that there were other people in the cafe. Elliot needed to make Kathy understand. This wasn't what it looked like. Nothing had happened, he and Olivia weren't…they didn't feel that way about each other. Well, maybe they did, but nothing was ever spoken of. There was no "them". "She was upset, Kathy. Things went a little south at the trial. We're on recess," he tried to explain as best as he could. At that moment, Olivia awoke, yawned and took a sip of the coffee in Elliot's hand. Then, she saw who Elliot was staring at and sprang out of her seat.

"Oh. My. God," she murmured, running her fingers through her hair frusteratedly. She quickly left the café. Kathy marched over to Elliot, pulling a piece of paper out of her handbag.

"I think it's high time you signed this," she snapped. Divorce papers….and the custody of his children.

**A/N: Well, I got rid of Kathy, paving the way for some lovely E/O coming up =)**


	7. Chapter 7: La Paz

Chapter 7: La Paz

**A/N: Another one down! I'm like super proud of myself right now, anyway, now is when things start to get exciting! Thanks for reading so faithfully and making it to this point =) Writing has kind of been my escape recently so I'm trying to take advantage of that feeling to get cracking on this story, as always, read, enjoy, and review, it's about to get really intense in the next few chapters =P –platarozaluna (I own nothing)**

"Court will now re-adjourn for the trial of Ricardo Montoya," announced the judge, banging her gavel on the podium. Elliot took his seat beside Olivia again, not meeting her eyes as the trial restarted.

"The prosecution calls Dr. George Huang to the stand to give the court an update on the mental condition of Jose Montoya," said Casey.

"Jose seems okay, considering. He's traumatized, however he's okay to testify. The problem is that he's terrified of his father. We're going to set him up with a webcam in an interrogation room and his testimony is going to come out of this iPad," said Huang.

"Fine by me, does the defense have any objections?" asked the judge.

"No, your honor," replied Calisto, though she continued to glare at Huang.

"Hello, my name is Jose Montoya, I'm eight years old." came the voice out of the speaker that Hunag had connected to his iPad. "If my mommy 'Livia is out there, can you guys please tell her that I'm really really sorry. She didn't do anything to hurt me 'cause she's the nicest lady ever!" Olivia's heart warmed at his words. She smiled at Elliot, but he turned and looked the other way, his face a chalky color.

"Jose, we need you to tell us who hit you. Was there someone else in the house?" asked Casey.

"If I tell who did it the person will do it again, he told me!" exclaimed Jose, suddenly becoming upset.

"He?" noted Casey.

"Daddy! Oh no….."he paused after his outburst. "Oh no….I accidentally…..no…I've been a bad boy, I'm sorry, can you turn the screen off, please?" he requested.

"Has he hit you before?" Casey plowed on. Maybe she wanted to get all of the information at once so that he wouldn't need to testify again. Jose admitted that he'd been hit and watched his mother get hit before. His testimony about the crime was the same as the one he had given Olivia at the hospital. "Thank you very much, Jose, I think that's all we need, don't you think, Miss Yew?" Calisto Yew looked up from her notes and at Casey.

"Get him out of here, the defense calls Ricardo Montoya to the stand once more,"

"Even if…roughness….was a factor as you say it was, how did Mrs. Montoya come to be shot?" asked Casey, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"Bitch was depressed, pulled out the damn thing and shot herself," Montoya said simply. Olivia was grateful that Jose wasn't being forced to hear this.

"Her fingerprints weren't found on the gun," Casey informed him.

"She was wearing gardening gloves, she had plants at the apartment,"

"How think do you honestly think I am Mr. Montoya?"

"OBJECTION!" Everyone in the courtroom stared at Detective Gumshoe. "Umm….I forgot earlier, but turns out the victim was wearing gardening gloves! I have 'em right here in the evidence bag!" Casey looked absolutely livid.

"Detective…..why was this not brought to my attention earlier?" she hissed.

"Doesn't matter, counselor, we have them now," said Calisto Yew with a smirk.

"We—we have no proof that Mrs. Montoya was depressed!" At this, Ricardo Montoya looked up.

"Just ask that other bitch, her little friend, lived next door-Hernandoza, I believe she is. Evita called her Lena," he growled.

"How convenient, I happen to have Elena Hernandoza in the prosecutors lobby right now. She is my next witness, for she also placed a call with the police department on the morning of the incident," said Casey, looking a bit brighter now, probably because she had prepared this witness and would have known if Elena thought it was suicide.

"Bailiff, bring in Ms. Hernandoza, please. Defendant, sit," snapped Yew. Elena Hernandoza was a young Hispanic woman with a Columbian accent, she looked to be about 30.

"First of all, get that little bastard away from me. I would gladly testify against the man that killed Evita,"

"Hey, El, looks like the defense just put the final nail in its coffin by requesting this witness…El?" Olivia murmured. He blinked and looked away again. _I'll have to deal with his crap later_, thought Olivia. After being sworn in, Elena began her testimony.

"My name is Elena Marie Hernandoza, I often go by Lena. I am 32 years old and I work in housekeeping services. I first met Evita when she and her husband and Jose moved here about two years ago, we became friends because Jose was in my daughter Guadalupe's kindergarten class. I would often come over and our kids would have playdates at the Montoya apartment. She never seemed like a depressed person. She seemed upset about her marriage, but she loved her son very much and would do anything for him. She told me that I needed to write some checks for her because she and her husband were illegal, I went along with it for the first few times and then I started to get a bit suspicious. I asked her and she admitted that she and her husband were legal, but that I needed to write the checks and if I didn't then he would hurt her or Jose. I continued to go along with it to help her, but I encouraged her to go to an abuse shelter or something. Evita and I were both very suspicious of what was going on, especially when strange men would come to her house throughout the day. At one point, she even had me stay with her when I wasn't working because she didn't want to be home alone while Jose was at school. Ricardo was never home. Then, one day, I came at the usual time and let myself in with the spare key like Evita told me to. That's when I found the drugs. Then, I knew what I was writing checks for. I left Colombia, to get away from them. I changed my name to get away from them. It's time that justice was done. Unfortunately, Ricardo was in the house. He found me and asked what I was doing there… I told him and he saw that I saw the drugs and that I knew. Then, he….he...did something to me and told me he'd do it again if I trespassed on his property again. I told Evita, she was going to confront him before he left for work that morning. Well, we see how that ended. Don't mess with the drug ring, La Paz, the peace, they call themselves." After cross examination, the judge ordered that a verdict could not be delivered until more investigation was done into the matter of the Columbian drug ring, La Paz, and Ricardo Montoya's involvement. Both sides were ordered to investigate and told that the trial would resume on Monday.

**A/N: No big cliffie that time, I just wanted to get the stupid trial over with so that I could start writing the epicness of the later chapters =)**


	8. Chapter 8: Taken

**A/N: Guess who has a snow day? Yours truly, Of course. That means more updates! Yay! I really need to get going if I want this story finished by February haha I own no one (except for Elena and the Montoya's), that's why I'm typing this on my crappy old computer while I'm supposed to be watching my younger brother-I have a really long chapter here for your reading pleasure-platarozaluna**

Chapter 8: Taken

After the trial, everyone slowly rose from their seats and exited out into the lobby. That was where Casey caught up with them. "El, Liv!" she called.

"Yes, Counselor?"

"I can't believe how incompetent that Detective is…"she hissed, no doubt referring to Gumshoe, who was well known for his incompetence. "That's why I'm putting you two in charge of the secondary investigation. I'd head over there now if I were you and look into anything related to La Paz, drug sales, check writing, and connections with Columbia. Then, you can come back and get a witness statement from Miss Hernandoza," Casey instructed.

"What's going to happen to Jose?" was Olivia's first question.

"Don't worry, he's going to hang out with Huang for a bit, you can talk to him when you come back to get the statement. He'd probably like that," Olivia smiled; she was starting to think of the little eight year old as a son.

Elliot still hadn't said anything since the café incident, so Olivia figured sitting in the SUV driving to the Montoya apartment was as good a time as any to ask him about what was bothering him, although she figured it had something to do with Kathy, as it always had. "Are you ok, El?" she asked. He didn't respond. "El…?" no response. "Elliot Stabler!" she hissed.

"What? I'm driving!" he growled.

"You've been really quiet, jumpy, and pale since we saw Kathy in the café. Are you going to tell me what happened or am I going to have to call Kathy?"

"You wouldn't!"

"Watch me," she replied as she pulled out her cellphone. Elliot honestly didn't put it past her.

"You really want to know? Alright, I'll tell you. She had some things for me to sign, ok?" he spat, now driving 10 miles over the speed limit. Olivia had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Things…..El?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to tell me?" He was gripping the steering wheel rather tightly now and driving 15 miles over the speed limit. "El….we're going to get pulled over," she warned.

"By who?"

"The police."

"I am the police."

"So am I and if you don't pull this car over right now I'm going to write you a hefty ticket," she snapped, and with that, she leaned over and steered the car into a lot. "Elliot. What happened after I left earlier?" she was in full out perp interrogation mode now. Her voice was in that warning "pre-ass kicking" tone. Elliot laid his head down on the steering well. Olivia draped her hand across his back, "El?" she whispered gently.

"SHE FILED FOR DIVORCE AND MADE ME SIGN THAT GODDAMN PAPER SO THAT SHE COULD TAKE MY CHILDREN, ALRIGHT? ARE YOU HAPPY?" he suddenly bellowed. He yanked open the car door and got out. He slammed the door behind him and stomped off. Olivia quickly got of the car and caught up with him. She tried to suppress the little bounce in her stomach. Maybe now she had a chance with Elliot, she'd loved him practically since she met him 12 years ago, but by that time his heart was already committed to Kathy. _No, Benson, this is about Elliot right now, not your needs_, she told herself. She wrapped his arms around his waist, knowing that what he needed right now was comfort and human contact.

"Leave me alone, Benson," he snarled. He'd called her Benson—that meant he was really pissed.

"Never, Stabler. We're partners—I have to have your back," she murmured in his ear. "Even when our roles have reversed," she reminded him, thinking that not too long ago; she was the one breaking down and he the one holding her together.

"Please, Olivia. I appreciate what you're trying to do, but I just need some time to myself to think this through is all, just go on to the crime scene. I'll call a taxi and meet up with you later, okay?" "Alright, El, but remember, we're in this together. Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me," she scooped him into a quick hug she knew he needed and then drove off to the Montoya apartment to meet Munch and Fin who were already there.

"Hey, Liv where's Elliot?"

"Oh, he's coming John, he just had something to take care of first," Olivia replied. _Like his broken heart._ "So, what did you guys find?" she asked.

"Check this out, Liv," Fin said holding up what appeared to be some sort of organizer. Olivia took it from him and flipped through it.

"Back and forth between New York and Columbia six times in the past year….that's once every two months!" she exclaimed.

"Exactly. And that's not all; we got a warrant to look up his phone records. There are a few Columbian sounding names that he's contacted a number of times," Munch was saying as Elliot walked into the room. Olivia filled him in, knowing better than to bring up Kathy and the kids at a time like this. She'd had far too much experience with the infamous Stabler temper.

"Hey Liv, check this out!" Elliot exclaimed, holding up a business card he'd found.

"_La Paz Financial Consulting,"_ Fin read.

"That's shady as anything," sad Olivia and the other three nodded in agreement. About ten minutes later, Munch called out that he'd hit the evidence jackpot.

"The shoes in his closet have false bottoms, each pair of his shoes is filled with cocaine," he said holding up a small pouch of the white powder.

"Well now we have more than enough to go on to connect him with the ring, Liv, do you want to go and get a statement from Miss Hernandoza now?" asked Elliot. He seemed to be trying to be nice to her, perhaps to make up for earlier, not that Olivia blamed him for being angry, his wife had left him and took his children for gosh sakes!

The ride back to the precinct was silent. Elliot wanted his children back, although, and he felt very guilty about it, part of him was glad that Kathy had divorced him. He'd fallen out of love with her and in love with Olivia so long ago that he couldn't even remember. Then again, it wasn't a sudden thing. It had happened gradually, beautifully, perfectly, and now, he wanted nothing more than to be with her forever. Olivia was thinking about Elliot. He was so perfect, so strong, so handsome, and he made her feel safer and more stable than she ever had in her life. Elliot _Stabler _had been her stability for longer than she could remember.

"Miss Hernandoza, I have a few questions for you,"

"Ask away, detective Benson. Anything to put that scum in prison where he belongs," replied Lena and Olivia had to admire the young woman's strength.

"Alright, start by telling me everything you know about La Paz, you're from Columbia are you not? You said as much in court today,"

"Yes, I'm from Colombia. My real name is Camilla de Santiago and…my father ran La Paz until he handed it off to my brother," she admitted. Olivia tried not to let her shock be visibly evident as she held the recorder, capturing Camilla's every word. "I was arranged to marry Ricardo Montoya, Guadalupe is his daughter, Jose's half-sister. I wanted nothing to do with the ring, so I took Lupe and left the country. I changed my name and began working for a housekeeping service when I came to New York. That was 7 years ago. 5 years after that, he turned up, living in my building with Evita and their son, who was my daughter's age. I'll bet you can guess from that that Ricardo cheated on me while we were engaged. I became friends with Evita, but tried to limit any contact with Ricardo for I feared he would recognize me and drag my ass back off to my brother in Colombia. I know too much,"

"Are there any names that you could give us? Or addresses? Any little bit will help, we've already tied Ricardo to La Paz," Olivia assured the younger woman.

"My brother's name is Carlos DeSantiago; his wife's name is Maria. They live in Bogota. Ricardo Montoya has connections with a number of known assassins and drug dealers in the area, but Evita said that when they came over they would always use code names," Camilla said.

"What code names did they use?" Olivia asked.

"They were always en espanol. Matanzo, Piezo, Punalado, names like that. Names that mean killing in Spanish. They wanted people to know that they were not to be messed with-are we almost done? My daughter is at daycare and I really would like to go pick her up, I'm worried, especially with all that's been going on," Camilla admitted. Olivia's heart went out to her for keeping and loving Ricardo Montoya's daughter. She understood her concern. If she had a child, she wouldn't leave them for an extended period of time, especially with all of this going on.

"One more question, and then I think I have enough for Casey to go on. You said that that day that Ricardo caught you in the apartment; he did something to you to keep you from reporting him. What did he do?" Olivia asked, knowing that the answer would be horrible.

"Isn't it obvious, he raped me. Twice. He stopped when he heard Evita open the front door," Camilla said, shaking slightly now.

"Camilla, we're going to catch this man and make him pay for everything that he's done. Now, we'll be sure to charge him with your rape as well, Ricardo Montoya and all of his cronies are going to rot in prison, justice will be served, Camilla, I promise you that. Now, I think you're free to go and pick up your daughter, "Olivia said, clicking off of the recorder. Camilla turned and hugged Olivia before leaving the room,

"Thank you, Detective Benson, I am in your debt."

"You owe me nothing, Camilla; I'm just doing my job."

"Wow," said Casey after she listened to the recording Olivia played for her.

"I know, do you think we have enough to nail him now?" Olivia asked.

"We have more than enough, I'm sure Yew knows by now that it's all over. Jose's been asking for you, do you want to go and see him?"

"Of course, but Case, is it okay for me to take him home now?" she asked hopefully.

"I'm sorry, Olivia, but he has to stay here tonight. You'll probably be able to pick him up tomorrow, though," Casey assured her, seeing the look on Olivia's face.

"El, do you want to go and see Jose?" she asked her partner, who was standing by the coffee machine.

"Sure, let's go," said Elliot, thinking that the bright little boy might cheer him up some, either that, or make him miss his children, for Jose was a lot like Eli in a number of ways.

"MOMMY LIVIA AND MR. ELLIOT!" exclaimed Jose when Olivia and Elliot walked into the children's playroom. He then proceeded to wrap his arms around Olivia's waist.

"Hey, baby boy, you didn't think I was actually going to leave you, did you?" she asked, sitting down and pulling him onto her lap. "You were so brave earlier, I promise you that your daddy is going to be in jail for a very long time, Miss Casey told me. You won't have to see him again, you're safe Jose, and if you want, after this trial, you can be my boy for really if you want to," she said. Elliot loved the grin that had spread across her face when talking about the adoption he knew she would go through with.

"Really? Then you would be my Mommy 'Livia forever and ever!" Jose exclaimed obviously just as pleased with the coming arrangement as Olivia was.

"Hey, El, it's getting late, we should head out," said Olivia as they were leaving the children's room.

"Do you want to get a drink or something, Liv, we haven't done that in awhile and I don't feel like going back home just yet, y'know?" Olivia hugged her partner briefly, glad that he was going to let her help him deal with everything rather than push her away as he had done earlier.

"Of course, El" she replied, while internally thinking _I'm going out with Elliot outside of work!" _Her heart was doing backflips.

Sitting at the bar of their favorite pub, Olivia ordered a glass of wine while Elliot ordered a cold beer. They talked about this and that, trying to avoid the topics that were on both of their minds: the divorce, the kids, Jose, and the case. "Elliot. Talk to me, what's on your mind?" Olivia finally asked, as if she didn't already know. He mumbled something about talking about feelings not being manly.

"Elliot Stabler!" she gasped.

"Really Liv, how safe would you feel with your partner whose supposed to be strong and protect you talking about his _feelings."_ He grumbled.

"Elliot! Look at me! You saw me earlier. I was a complete wreck. Do you feel less safe around me now? Do you think that makes me less strong?" she demanded.

"No, Olivia Benson you are the strongest person I have ever known. I could never have a another partner. I literally couldn't. Do you remember what Cragen said when you first joined SVU?" Elliot asked her. Of course she remembered.

"He wished me luck because none of your other partners ever lasted more than a year or so before they left and he said that SVU detectives don't usually last longer than 4 years before they quit the unit," she murmured.

"We've been at this job together 12 years, Liv," Elliot reminded her and she simply smiled.

"I've been putting up with your Stabler shit a long time, you sonuvabitch," she said jokingly.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else other than by your side, Olivia Benson, I hope you know that." Maybe it was the alcohol, Olivia didn't know. She smelled his cologne and felt him wrap his arm around her back. They turned to face each other, and then their lips touched, lightly at first, but then more passionately as they realized that both were receptive. Olivia moved with him, their lips like dancers. Any other guy who tried to make out with her like a teenager in a bar would have gotten his ass kicked. Not this guy, not this time. This was completely different.

"DAD? OLIVIA?" At the sound of his oldest daughter's voice, Elliot disconnected himself from Olivia and spun around. Elliot's college age daughter, Maureen was standing at the entrance to the bar with a girl about her age and _Calisto Yew? "_Dad? What the hell? When mom told me she was getting a divorce, I thought she was just overreacting again—but you really are with Liv, aren't you?" she hissed and then rounded on Olivia. " You ruined my parents marriage! I thought we were friends Olivia, how could you do this? I never thought you were a homewrecker, Liv, but that just shows that people can be wrong," Elliot and Olivia could see that Maureen was holding back tears.

"What are you doing here with Calisto Yew, Maureen?" asked Elliot, figuring this could mean nothing good.

"Cece and I go to school together, we're friends. Her older sister Calisto was nice enough to offer to take us out, not that it's any of your business, Elliot," she snapped, calling her father by his first name and reminding him so much of Kathy. Calisto Yew stepped forward at this time and glared maliciously at Elliot and Olivia.

"I'm sure that IAB would be very interested in this little incident. I may have to place a phone call tomorrow morning." Olivia threw some money at the bartender and stomped out of the pub and into the night, Elliot immediately chased after her. He was angry now, not necessarily at her, but just at the situation as a whole.

"Damnit Olivia come back here!" he called, chasing her down the sidewalk.

"No Elliot!" she hissed back as a light misty rain began to fall.

"So you screw my marriage and now you're just going to run away from it! You always run away, Olivia. That's why nothing ever lasts with you!" he shouted after her, regretting his words instantly after they left his mouth.

"You bastard! You sonuvabitch!" even in the rain, Elliot could see her tears. She hailed a taxi. "Don't you dare come after me Stabler, not now, not ever!"

Olivia was crying as she pushed open the door to her apartment, not even noticing that it was unlocked. She pulled a bottle of foreign vodka out of her cabinet and took a swig straight out of the bottle. She unclipped her gun and badge and laid them down on the coffee table as her cellphone began to ring. It was Elliot. Again. And Olivia hit 'ignore'. Again. She knew that he hadn't meant what he said and probably felt horrible, and while she was used to his spurts of anger, he had to stop thinking that he could get away with saying whatever the hell he wanted. She would forgive him, of course, but not right now. This time, the attack had been too personal for her to just let it go. She downed the entire bottle of vodka and ended up passing out on the couch, completely oblivious to the man who had been watching her from her bedroom.

Elliot was finally able to fall asleep in his empty bed in his empty house at around three in the morning. He'd tried to call Olivia seven times and had left her a number of voicemails, frustrated and figuring he'd call her again in the morning, he'd showered and climbed into bed. The sound of his cellphone ringing at four in the morning roused Elliot from his restless sleep. _Damnit Liv_, he thought. _Why couldn't you have called me at a decent hour?_ However, he was happy she was returning his call at all. If he only knew what was to come. "Stabler," he mumbled sleepily into the phone. He was greeted by heavy deep breathing on the other end. "What, Liv, you been running or something?"

"AhuhAhuhAhuhAhuh"

"It's not funny, Olivia."

"AhuhAhuhAhuh"

"Olivia? Are…Are you alright?" A deep, rasping male voice answered him.

"_When darkness dies, the Bulto flies. A phantom of the night, they never notice his victim's plight. I've taken for my pleasure detective Stabler, your greatest treasure_," he said eerily in a singsong voice before hanging up.

"Olivia!" he exclaimed. He pulled on the first clothes he could find, grabbed his keys and ran out the door. He radioed in an emergency situation at Olivia's address as he sped down the road to save his partner, his best friend, his love.

The door to Olivia's apartment was wide open when Elliot charged up the stairs, not even bothering to deal with the elevator. Everything seemed relatively undisturbed. No sign of a struggle, he noted. "Liv?" he called weakly. No response. Sitting on her coffee table were her badge, an empty bottle of vodka, and a card with a picture of a half white/ half red phantom of the opera-esque mask with a jack o lantern face smiling eerily up at him. Elliot recognized it from somewhere, but where? Then, it hit him. It was the calling card of a known assassin.


	9. Chapter 9: Missing

**A/N: Sorry about the lack of updates, I've been super busy. Here's a short little baby update so that you guys keep reading my stor, the other half of this chapter will probably come tomorrow and be much longer**

Within minutes, Munch and Fin were on the scene. "She's gone! Bastard took her!" shouted Elliot, thinking he'd probably awoken everyone in the building by now.

"No sign of a struggle, think she knew the kidnapper?" asked Munch, but Fin had picked up the vodka bottle.

"No….I think she was passed out. That would have made her easy to kidnap," he growled in disgust.

"That card looks very familiar to me," Munch said in reference to the mask card on the coffee table.

"Do you remember the Masked Avenger case from about three years ago?" said Elliot shakily.

"Yeah..the guy was never caught," Munch replied.

"Do you remember the calling card that the Masked Avenger sent out?" Elliot prompted, going paler by the second. Fin and Munch blanched.

"Her badge is here…" commented Fin as he slid it off the table and examined it.

"She wouldn't have put her badge down without her gun,"

"Damn bastard must have it! We'll have to radio in that Olivia doesn't have it in case he commits a crime with it!" shouted Elliot rummaging for his radio.

"I'm going to call Casey and let her know what happened," said Fin pulling out his cellphone and holding it to his ear.

"I wonder what happened, Olivia isn't usually much of a drinker…this is like some kind of conspiracy," said Munch, eying the vodka bottle suspiciously.

"Can it, Munch," growled Elliot who was feeling rather sick. This was his fault. If he hadn't yelled at Olivia, she wouldn't have gotten angry. If she hadn't gotten angry she wouldn't have drank util she passed out. She would have been able to defend herself, maybe even call someone to help her.

" Casey? Casey? Who the hell is this?" Fin's loud shout shook Elliot from his depressed thoughts. They heard Fin shout into the phone again. He then held it away from his ear for the other two to hear. A man was laughing maniacally on the other end.

"_When darkness dies, the Bulto flies. A phantom of the night, they never notice his victim's plight. I've taken for my pleasure detective Tutuola, your greatest treasure_," he said eerily in a singsong voice before hanging up. "What was that?" spat Fin as if expecting the other two detectives to burst out laughing as if everything was all one huge, sick joke. Elliot wished it was.

"That's him! The bastard that took Olivia, he has Casey!" exclaimed Elliot. The three sped to Casey's apartment immediately, hoping to be able to catch the Masked Avenger before he could hurt the two women.

Casey's door was slightly ajar, like Olivia's was.

"Casey!" shouted Fin and the three burst in, guns drawn. However, the apartment was empty. "Damn it!" shouted Fin, but Elliot was distracted by what lay on Casey's kitchen table. Another calling card had something written on it in what he hoped was not Olivia or Casey's blood. "_Too late now, Detective Stabler. You should have known not to mess with La Paz. We don't plan to kill her, at least, not yet. However, if you don't find them in 3 days, well let's just say that I keep the same policy as the Animal Shelter. Unloved Olivia Benson is going to meet the same fate as an unloved street cat, is that what you want detective? 3 days is what you have. 72 hours. I left you a present on the chair, I think you'll find it intriguing. Remember, 72 hours,"-El Bulto y Vendicatore Mascherato" _Elliot froze. Sitting on Casey's kitchen chair was a horribly disturbing picture of Olivia, passed out, what was probably her own gun held to her head.


	10. Chapter 95: Missing pt 2

**A/N: Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a depressing update- the second half of chapter 9 (finally!)**

Elliot, Fin, and Munch paced the squadroom anxiously, waiting for Captain Cragen who had summoned them, probably seeking an explanation to the rumor that Olivia and Casey had been kidnapped. Unfortunately, it wasn't a rumor. "Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on!" he bellowed, storming into the bullpen.

"We're trying to find them, but the guy left us no real leads other than the card and the picture," Munch explained, for Fin and Elliot were unable to speak.

"Find who? What the hell? I meant, tell me about why Elena Hernandoza was found dead in the dumpster outside this precinct earlier this morning!" exclaimed Cragen. Seeing the shocked looks on his detective's faces, he must have figured out that they didn't know and seemed about to explain when his cellphone rang. Elliot, Fin, and Munch gulped and exchanged glances. This couldn't be good, seeing as it was a call to Cragen's cell rather than the general precinct phone. They must have thought right, because he seemed to be growing quite red in the face. He stormed into his office and slammed the door.

"STABLER!" he boomed. Oh no….his first thought was that the Bulto had called about Olivia. She can't be dead…she can't be dead….he murmured over and over in his head as he took his seat in his captain's office, closing the door softly behind him. Cragen was seated at his desk, a very eerily calm expression on his face.

"Elliot, that was IAB. Now, do you have any idea why they may have called me this morning, asking you and Benson to a hearing?" Elliot blanched. In all of the craziness he had completely forgotten about the bar thing. He decided that honesty may be his only way out.

"One drunk kiss, Captain. Yew was in the same bar and saw us," he said, although it was, to him at least, a hell of a lot more than a drunk kiss. He also neglected to mention that they weren't even fully intoxicated. When Cragen didn't say anything, he gulped and continued. "Nothing else happened, we don't feel that way about each other. We were just…best friends who had a little too much to drink. I barely remember it, neither of us said anything about it afterwards. Like a silent agreement that it wouldn't ever happen again."

"If that's really all it was, I can probably with some convincing get the two of you off the hook. Where is Benson?" he asked, looking relieved that he wouldn't have to split up his best team. That's when Elliot started to break. He leaned his forehead onto his hand and sighed.

"She's gone," he murmured, voice cracking.

"What? Elliot? Who's gone?"

"Olivia. Some creep kidnapped her last night…I'm going to track down this bastard…and I'm going to kill him, " Elliot growled. His knuckles were turning white as he gripped Cragen's desk.

"Alright," Cragen addressed the detectives, seemingly trying to maintain composure as best as possible given the situation. "We have three crime scenes to investigate: Olivia's apartment, Casey's apartment, and Ms. Hernandoza alias Ms. DeSantiago's apartment. If we're going to get Olivia and Casey back we're going to need to work fast-we have three days to find and save them before La Paz acts, and at this point, we're going to have to trust that they keep their promise. For now, I'm going to assign each of you an investigation. Fin, you're in charge of Olivia's apartment, Munch, you're taking Casey's, and Elliot you're taking the homicide case," Cragen announced, bracing himself for an explosion.

"Captain! Why aren't I taking Liv's case?" Elliot shouted.

"The same reason Fin isn't taking the A.D.A's," Cragen replied simply.

"But Olivia aren't—"

"Dating? I should hope not, but you've been best friends for the better part of twelve years. You're too emotionally invested, "Cragen said reluctantly, for inside, he knew that that Elliot's passion for his partner might be just what they needed to find her faster, he also knew how the two detectives really felt about each other. He knew that this case could bring out the feelings, so he wanted to keep Elliot as out of the loop as possible. Fin cared about Olivia, and was just as capable of handling her case.

"Excuse me?" called a voice from the entrance to the squadroom. Everyone turned to look at him. He appeared to be in his mid-forties. His well-kept brown hair had streaks of gray running through it and he was dressed sharply in a crisp business suit. "I need to speak to Elliot Stabler," he announced.

"I already have a case," Elliot snapped back, in no mood to deal with the pompous man this morning.

"Oh, detective, I think have information about a matter that will be of great interest to you, unless you don't care about your partner, in which case-" Elliot cut him off.

"Interrogation room two." He said.

"Where the hell is Olivia?" Elliot demanded, slamming his fist down on the table in the interrogation room. The stranger merely smiled a sadistic smirk and said

"Easy, Detective Stabler, I'm willing to make a deal with you. You have kids don't you? 3 daughters and 2 sons with your ex-wife, am I right?

"What do you know about my kids?"

"Enough. Listen, if you want your kids to live, you're going to let Olivia go. You aren't going to go looking for her at all, or they die. Maureen, Kathleen, Lizzie, Dickie, Eli, and Kathy. All dead, would you like that Detective Stabler? I thought not. Now, if you would like to save Olivia, I can have it arranged that she be returned to you, unharmed, in exchange for something. It's only fair, after all. I have what you want, you have what I want. I want your daughter, Maureen. Of course, if your family were to say, disappear from the area or have cops guarding their house, we'd kill Olivia immediately and make it in the painful way possible, telling her, of course, that that's what you wanted for her." With that, the man strode out of the interrogation room and out of the precinct. Elliot knew if he sent anyone after him, Olivia would die. This creep wasn't the mastermind, he was just a puppet. If he didn't return from the precinct, the higher-ups would kill Olivia and Casey. Fin looked how Elliot felt.

"...what the hell are we going to do-we can't just let them die!" Fin punched the wall, he'd never shown aggression like this before, that was usually Elliot. Damn it...thought Elliot, there's no way out. Olivia and Casey had been kidnapped, and there was nothing anyone could do, Jose Montoya, and now, Guadalupe DeSantiago would be going into a wicked New York foster care system.

"I'm so sorry, Olivia" he murmured. He'd promised her that he would protect them. Some hero I am...he thought.

"I don't see how we could even continue the trial...I guess it'll just be another cold case," sighed Cragen filled with grief at what had happened to one of his own, to the woman he thought of as a daughter.

"Objection!" called a voice from the door to the bullpen.

"Alex Cabot..."


End file.
